


A Bolt from the Blue

by Cloudpain



Category: Naruto
Genre: Age Difference, M/M, Male Slash, Sugar Daddy, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-22
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-04-05 16:35:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4187007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloudpain/pseuds/Cloudpain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Uzumaki Boruto had been training under Uchiha Sasuke for a number of years, when his sister made a comment that started turning everything on it's head.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bad Ideas

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo! in terms of history for this one ~ Assume Chapter 10 of Naruto Gaiden never happened- or at least page 20 + never happened XD

The door slammed shut behind Boruto and he winced. The house was completely quiet, it had to be past ten already and he knew his parents tended to retire early. With his father being hokage he had plenty to worry about each day, and the family generally had supper early.  
  
He was back late from practise again, his mother hated when he didn’t make it home for supper. Not that it was his fault exactly, Sasuke was a damn slave driver. He wouldn’t get caught complaining to his parents though, they already disapproved of the amount of time he spent out of the house because of the irregular hours that Sasuke kept.  
  
He kicked off this shoes by the door, just as his younger sister’s face appeared round the edge of a door frame further up the hall.  
“Late again Nii-san,” She smirked, “been busy getting dirty with Sasuke-sama again?”  
  
Boruto frowned at her, “Stop making it sound dodgy, Himawari,”  
  
She shook her head vigorously, long dark hair flying about her pretty face, “No I meant it quite Literally,” she pointed at him, “You’re filthy, I’d take that jacket off and stick it in the wash before mum sees it.”  
  
Boruto glanced down at his usually black and red jacket to find it was currently more varying shades brown. With a muttered curse he hastily unzipped the jacket and padded up to his sister pushing past her into the room beyond. “That guy, why does he always have to throw me around so much?”  
  
“Ooh did he push you down nii-san,” Himawari cooed as he passed her.  
  
He flushed slightly and narrowed his eyes at her, “He did not,” he said shortly as he padded through the lounge and dining room area to the kitchen, which was separated by a high counter. Finding the laundry basket he turned his jacket inside out before stuffing it deep under the rest of the laundry in the hopes that his mother wouldn’t notice it.

  
Himawari sighed deeply and flopped dramatically onto the couch picking up a Manga she had been reading, “So boring. There is food for you in the fridge.”  
  
Boruto opened the fridge and gratefully grabbed a chicken leg off the plate taking a large bite of it cold, sighing gratefully. He had been so wrapped up in training he hadn’t eaten at all. “Was mom mad that I wasn’t here?”  
  
“Just huffy mostly, you know how she gets about family time. But obviously she wasn’t angry enough not to feed you this time...I was actually going to eat your food myself,” Himawari added as he took the plate out and opened the microwave on the counter nearby, “but I thought you might need it for energy after ‘going at it’ all day with Sarada’s dad.”  
  
Boruto choked on his mouthful of chicken, nearly dropping the plate as he pushed it into the microwave. Shutting the appliance door he caught his breath and cleared his throat before turning to glare at his little sister, “Hima-chan, you are so lucky no one realises what a bad personality you have, you would have no friends.”  
  
His sister was always like this - completely inappropriate and crass but only in front of him, not even their parents seemed to realise the deviant they had living under their own roof. To most people she was sweet as candy, shy and studious, Just like their mother actually was - but in private she made an about turn so fast it gave him whiplash just thinking about it. He set his food to warm for a minute.  
  
“Hmmm, what’s the big deal Sasuke-sama is hot,” she said paging through the manga, swinging her pyjama clad legs through the air.  
  
“He’s _old_ and a _man_. And what’s with the sama-sama all the time, dad would flip if he heard you crushing on his old teammate.”  
  
Himawari laughed and shut her book, sitting up as the microwave dinged. Boruto brought his food to the couch opposite the one his sister sat on.

  
“Sasuke-sama, has never looked at a woman that way a day in his life. I’m crushing on him vicariously through, you so I’m safe.”  
  
Boruto looked at his sister askance and said through a mouthful of food, “Hate to break it to you – mmm – but he has a daughter. That doesn’t happen with two men, and we all know the scandal it caused when Sarada found out Haruno-san wasn’t her real mom. He was definitely with another woman. ”  
  
Himawari rolled her blue eyes, both children had inherited that and a set of whisker marks on each cheek from their father, “That means nothing nii-san, have you ever seen him go near a woman?”  
  
Boruto opened his mouth, then slowly shut it again. He stuffed a piece of broccoli into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. Sasuke had only returned to the village some five or so years ago and it wasn’t till Boruto was fourteen that he had started training seriously with the man. Wrack his brain as he might he could not think of a single encounter where Sasuke treated a woman with more than basic formality, not even Sakura-san. “It’s not as though he is really close to anyone though, not even Sarada spends much time with him, he’s just an anti-social guy,” he reasoned.  
  
“He spends time with you,” she waggled her eyebrows suggestively and Boruto grabbed a pillow off the couch and threw it at her head. What nosense, he was being trained by the man, and Sasuke had other things to do than just train him, what was he to do except fit into the other’s schedule wherever he could?  
His sister neatly ducked the throw, grinning broadly.  
  
“Urg, you’re insufferable.”  
  
She pulled a tongue at him.  
  
“Where do you even come up with ideas like this?” he asked putting his empty plate down on the coffee table.  
  
“Shikadai told me,” She replied, leaning on the armrest and propping her head up on her hand.  
  
Boruto rolled his eyes, “Because he is the ultimate authority on everything? Come to think of it didn’t you have a crush on _him_ a while ago?”  
  
Himawari sighed dramatically, “I had a crush on his mind yes, but it seems like I have knack for picking the ones that aren’t straight.”  
  
Boruto sometimes felt a bit afraid of his sister. She was so blasé about everything and here he was at seventeen, still the sort of person that blushed and got flustered when you asked who he liked, not that he liked anyone particularly at the moment. His sister had been making these jokes about him and Sasuke-san  for the last week or so. At first he had been scandalized though he was learning to let it roll off him Himawari would tire of the game eventually.  
Now he knew who to blame for this season of torture however. Shikadai Whom his sister had been hanging round endlessly lately since she took a liking to the boy. It took a moment however, before what she had said sank in.  
  
“Wait- what ? Are you saying Shikadai is-”  
  
“Gay.”  
  
“When did this happen?!”  
  
Himawari clapped her hands over her eyes and shook her head before peeking through her fingers at him, “I’m almost embarrassed for you, how dense you are.”  
  
Boruto scowled and ruffled the back of his hair with a hand, “Sorry I’m not a gossip monger like you.”  
  
“Boru nii-san, Shika and Inojin have been together nearly six months!”  
  
Boruto’s jaw dropped, “Inojin? You are telling me that womanizer’s dating Shikadai?”  
  
She favoured him with her best ‘I am done with you’ look and replied, “There’s a difference between getting along with girls and being a womanizer, Nii-san. Although – I will give that one to you, I didn’t suspect Inojin.”  
  
Boruto scrubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands, “Great, my body was already sore and now my head hurts from information overload.” He stood up, “I’m going to bed, you should too.” He glanced at this sister’s manga lying on the table, “Also stop reading Yaoi manga in public you perv, what if mom caught you?”  
  
Himawari snatched up her manga and grinned sheepishly at him. Boruto waved a hand at her and headed for the doorway towards the staircase on the other side of the room.  
  
He stopped in the doorway and turned back, Himawari glanced guiltily up at him from where she had started reading again.

  
“I don’t buy it that Sasuke-san’s gay though, it’ll take more than Shika’s gaydar to convince me.” He said bluntly and turned on his heel running up the stairs to his bedroom.  
  
He barely had the energy to strip down to boxers before collapsing onto his bed.  
  
Sasuke-sensei, gay? Nah, not possible, if anything the man was plank-sexual, only attracted to other emotionless planks that took joy in throwing hardworking kids like Boruto across clearings several times a day. Amused at the thought of Sasuke romancing a plank Boruto swiftly fell asleep.  
  
~~~  
  
It had to be early morning because Boruto did not feel tired despite the dark hour.  He stared at the curtains, pulled aside and billowing slightly in the light breeze. Moonlight illuminated the pale fabric and cast a pale light into his bedroom. He became aware of a figure sitting in the windowsill.  
  
Blinking large blue eyes he murmured, “Sasuke-sensei? What are you doing here?”  
He sat up in his bed squinting slightly at the man in the window.  
Wordlessly, Sasuke turned to look at him, the moonlight catching the sharp profile of his face. In a sweeping motion Sasuke turned and stood up taking a step into Boruto’s room and the moonlight. He was dressed in his everyday clothes and cloak that Boruto had become so accustomed to seeing on the man over the last couple of years.

  
“Are you going somewhere Sensei?”  
  
“That depends,” the man replied cocking his head to one side, dark eyes fixed on Boruto, “You heard the rumors about me?”  
  
“Rumours…” Boruto considered, then it came back to him, and he was grateful that the dim light hid his flush, “Ah – that you, um aren’t straight?” he glanced away but looked back as Sasuke reached a hand up and unfastened the clasp of his cloak. He pulled the cloak off and tossed the garment aside, leving him in a white shirt and black pants.  
His gaze locked onto Boruto again, “That I like men,” he clarified.  
  
Boruto swallowed nervously, “Yes I heard.”  
  
Sasuke took a step closer placing him at the foot of Boruto’s bed, “What do you think?”  
  
Boruto glanced away uncertainly, “What do I think? Well, Of course I didn’t believe it, not that it matters-”  
  
He felt the bed dip and drew in a sharp breath as Sasuke crawled up the bed to hover over him, his face was suddenly very close to Boruto’s.  
  
“Good,” Sasuke breathed and Boruto’s heart rate skyrocketed as the other man leaned in toward him. He felt a broad hand press against his chest, and breath hot against his ear as Sasuke murmured, “I’m not gay.”  
  
His hand stroked over Boruto’s chest and the boy shivered not able to think of much else.  
“Sasuke-sensei, what-”  
  
“Sasuke-san. I’m not a teacher,”  
  
“Sasuke-san,” the hand slid up to his shoulder, and Sasuke pulled back slightly so they were nose to nose, long dark hair falling forward to cast thin shadows across his face.  
  
 “If someone comes in here…” Boruto said anxiously, he was sure he could hear footsteps approaching.  
  
“If someone comes, what?” Sasuke murmured, and Boruto’s eyes flickered down to the other man’s pale lips, The hand on his shoulder lifted to stroke two long pale fingers over the markings on his cheek, “Didn’t you say it doesn’t matter?”  
  
There were definitely foot steps getting closer, but Boruto couldn’t concentrate, Sasuke-san was leaning in, his lips centimetres away from Boruto’s breath ghosting hot across his lips.  
“I-”  
  
The door slammed open.  
Boruto jerked upright in his bed as Himawari said loudly, “Boruto, mum says get up and make sure you get to practise – she doesn’t want you coming home late again today.”  
  
Boruto’s heart thundered in his chest as he blinked in the sudden daylight. The fear of being caught with Sasuke still clouded his brain leaving him breathing like he had just run a mile.  
Himawari paused at his odd posture, and sudden seeming alertness, “Are you alright nii-san?”  
  
Dreaming? He had been dreaming? Relief flooded through him. “uh- yeah fine…” he glanced at the window. It was closed.  
  
Himawari raised a sceptical eyebrow at him.  
  
He started to move to get out of bed and froze. Seriously? His body had… reacted… to the dream. He felt the flush crawling up the back of his neck and hastily shooed Himawari, waving a hand at her to distract her from his burning face, “I’m up, I’m up, now go so I can get changed.”  
  
 “Don’t go back to sleep.” She warned drawing the door closed behind her.

  
“I wont.” He muttered to the back of the door.  
  
For a second, he stared down at his crotch, then suddenly planted his face in his hand with a groan. Ah awkward, so very awkward. Why – to a dream about Sasuke? No this was all Himawari’s fault with all her nonsense talk about people’s orientation last night.

  
Ignoring his morning problem, he swung his feet out of bed and grabbed a towel off the chair by the door. “Shower, shower…” he muttered.

  
A cold shower ought to sort him out. What was he thinking reacting like this to a dream about Sasuke - a man at that? He was not thinking, he concluded– that was it – it was just an uncontrollable, natural response of a healthy teenage boy to a dream state. 

  
Although he partially managed to convince himself of this by the time he got into the shower, he was suddenly not looking forward to the days training in the slightest.  
  
  



	2. Don't Ask.

  
  
“Slow.” A voice said, low in his ear.  
  
Boruto barely had time to draw breath as his legs were knocked out from under him and his face smashed into the ground as his arm was twisted behind his back.  
  
He groaned in pain.  
  
Sasuke had a knee planted firmly against Boruto’s back to keep him pinned. The man leaned down with a scowl and pulled Boruto’s head up out of the dirt by his hair. “You are never going to beat me if your head is somewhere else, gaki. Stop wasting my time.”  
  
Boruto winced as he was roughly released and Sasuke stepped off him. The whole morning had been filled with similar scenes, and had left Boruto more scratched and dirty than usual.

  
He had been awkwardly avoiding looking directly at Sasuke for too long because of the dream from that morning, and it was seriously setting back his progress in training.  Sasuke had started out with all manner of his usual illusory tricks but this time he had used physical speed alone, to toss Boruto to the ground.

  
The Hokage’s son knew it was bad, he knew Sasuke had done it deliberately to make a point. ‘You’re so useless today, I don’t even have to try to defeat you’ was essentially the message th man was putting across.

  
Scrambling to his feet, Boruto wiped the dirt from his face with a sleeve. He needed to pull up his socks, this was getting ridiculous. Jounin selection was coming up soon and he would be damned if he would fall behind Shikadai. As loath as he was to admit it affected him, there were also certain pressures to being the Hokage’s son. He had an entire village waiting to see if he was worthy. When he was younger and first pushed back against his father, there had been some concern about the son of the Hokage being a bad apple, and that is when he had first sought Sasuke out to train him to defeat his father, to show them all that he was not inferior. He didn’t have time to be dwelling on stupid things like Sasuke’s sexual orientation.  It didn’t change anything about how talented a fighter he was.  
  
Planting his feet in a wider fighting stance for balance, Boruto looked up at Sasuke again, determination setting his jaw.

 

Sasuke looked bored and irritated, and stood there casually opposite him, not even vaguely seeing Boruto as a threat. It sparked Boruto’s annoyance. He had worked hard over three years to get Sasuke to acknowledge his ability, and the man had only just started to take him seriously in the last three months. It was as though today he had been sent back to square one. This damn pretty boy and his superiority complex were so frustrating. Sure Sasuke was Anbu, but he was basically on permanent parole because of his conduct during the war and his role in the lead up to it. He was plenty flawed enough himself.  
  
Boruto turned his palm toward the earth and drew on is chakra, channelling it into branching lightning in his downturned hand. It would hurt if it hit, but he was tired of being pummelled into the ground.

  
It had been quite some time since Boruto had used the attack Sasuke had taught him near the beginning of their training, and he knew it was one of the other man’s signature moves. Only he, Kakashi and Boruto had succeeded in mastering the blade like lightning form.

  
As Boruto launched himself forward Sasuke’s expression changed slightly. It was enough to distract Boruto as the image from his dream of Sasuke standing thoughtfully in the moonlight by his bedroom window, flashed through his mind.  
  
“Chidori!” Boruto cried. As he thrust his hand forward Sasuke deftly stepped aside and flat-palm parried Boruto’s strike away from him, but the energy had fizzled long before it would have hit Sasuke anyway, when Boruto’s concentration had been broken.  
  
Sasuke sighed in annoyance and Boruto jumped away from him, just in case Sasuke tried to throw him again.  Why did his stupid head keep bringing that dream up?  
Sure Sasuke was good looking but it was nothing to get all strange about, it was a fact he had acknowledged as true long ago. His father had always said that Sasuke had been really popular with the girls, although Naruto had claimed he had been equally popular, a statement Boruto was fairly sure was gross exaggeration. Sasuke on the other hand had always had the cool mysterious thing going for him. He remembered even Chouchou had had a massive crush on him a few years ago.

  
“Tch, those straightforward attacks… you’re just like your father,” Sasuke knew just what to say to hit a nerve.  
  
Boruto hated being compared to his father, and Sasuke knew it. It was bad enough trying not to disappoint everyone else in the village but Sasuke was aware how much he despised the constant comparison. Blue eyes flashed as he glared at Sasuke then looked away. Sure he and his father had worked things out more or less, and he realised most of his fathers actions were taken to protect him, but it didn’t make things much easier to deal with in the rest of the village.  
  
“I can predict everything you are going to do. I thought I had taught I knocked that out of you three years ago. What is with you today brat?”

  
Boruto rolled his shoulders is a petulant shrug, “Nothing,” it was not as if he could tell Sasuke the true reason that he was all over the place.  
  
“Did Shikamaru’s kid beat you at Shogi again?” Sasuke trawled.  
  
“No”, Boruto snapped back, that had been one time! (since then he refused to play with the damn genius) “Can we just try again?”  
  
Sasuke folded his arms, “I have no interest in wasting my time on some kid who is just starting to feel the effects of puberty. I have things that need to get done. Let’s end here for today and maybe you can figure out where your last two brain cells snuck off to. Preferably before tomorrow’s afternoon session.”  
  
Boruto frowned, “But we have morning practise tomorrow.”  
  
“Not anymore.” Sasuke replied shortly, “You have irritated me enough that I don’t want to see your face for a while. Might I remind you that you are the one that asked for this training, I’m not even supposed to interact with the youth of the village beyond the basics. This is a special concession that your father made for you, and if you don’t make progress there’s no reason for me to be here.”  
  
Boruto looked down, teeth gritted and, fists clenched at his sides, “I know that.” Did Sasuke really think he ever forgot about what a mission it had been to get his father to let him be trained by him? Yes he had been a wilful brat at the time but Sasuke had seemed – well, not _unhappy_ at least to have someone interested in his powers. _Emotionless plank_ , he thought viciously.  Maybe he had been mistaken and actually had just been a tiresome burden to Sasuke-san all this time?   
  
The man stood there staring at him, he could almost feel the dark gaze boring into the top of his head as if those powerful Uchiha eyes could just pluck the thoughts from his mind.   
  
Boruto shifted uncomfortably under the intense scrutiny. He hated being a disappointment to anyone, most of all the man he had idolized most since he was a little. In storys from his fathers past he had always clung to the parts of his tails that had covered the Uchiha genius, the one protecting the village from the shadows. Not basking in the glory and pretending to be the entire village’s father like his dad did.  
  
At length he looked up again and blinked at the oddly thoughtful expression on Sasuke’s face.  
  
The man opened his mouth then shut it again and sighed running a hand through lengthy, spiked, black hair, “What is it brat, what is bothering you?”  
  
 A slight flush came to Boruto’s cheeks and he shook his head, suddenly taking intense interest in brushing dirt off his jacket.  How odd. It was completely unlike Sasuke to take an interest in his problems, “It’s nothing I just-”   
he paused, what had he been about to say? Sasuke asks with a bit more genuine concern than usual and Boruto was prepared to spill everything, and thoroughly embarrass himself in front of the man? “I – Probably didn’t get enough sleep. I’ll be on form tomorrow I promise.” He ruffled the back of his hair nervously.  
  
Sasuke didn’t seem convinced and stood for only a moment longer before annoyance passed over his face again and he shook his head waving a hand dismissively.  
  
Boruto swallowed and after a brief pause turned and left the training area, sure he could feel Sasuke’s eyes burning into his back. He was disappointed that Sasuke had felt the need to cut training short, but even he could tell he wasn’t doing anything useful failing over and over again. He need to get his head sorted out, to think or preferably talk things out but… Well there was no one at home at this time of day. Himawari was training for chuunin exams – not that he would be telling her anything that would feed into her mental games.

 

He wondered back into town not quite sure what to do with himself. It was barely midday and the village was busy as usual, people rushing here and there busy with tasks or shopping. Boruto stepped aside as a man hurried past carrying a crate of tomatoes on each shoulder. His stomach growled. He sighed. He didn’t have money on him for food. His luck was quite something today.  
Out of habit, he let his feet carry him through town toward the food district.

  
As he passed by a hot-pot shop, a familiar voice caught his attention. It was followed by jovial laughter and he pushed open the sliding door to peer inside.   
  
Chouchou and Sarada were sitting having lunch at a table together. The darker skinned girl was greatly amused by Sarada’s objections to her taking food out of the pot before it was properly cooked, and feeble attempts to fend her off with chopsticks; one did not get between Chou and her meals.

  
Boruto hesitated in the doorway. Normally Sarada was his go to friend when he was bothered by anything. She had a level head on her shoulders… generally. But when it came to her family, well. He couldn’t imagine her taking kindly to him questioning her father’s sexuality as well as having a superbly awkward dream about him. With a grimace he backed out and shut the door again.

No definitely not.

A door slid open to a shop down the road a little way and a boy his age with dark hair, swept up into a tufty ponytail atop his head stepped out, stretching his arms above his head, a bored expression on his face.

  
“Shikadai!” Boruto cried unable to believe his luck. The boy flinched instinctively but Boruto merely bounded over to him instead of half tackling the other boy as he had been known to in the past.  
  
They had a competitive relationship he and Shikadai. Well, from his point of view they did at least. It was hard to tell if Shikadai felt the same, because the other boy was largely a calm and calculating sort. 

 

He had only ever seen the other boy truly angry once and that had been when Inojin had said something particularly insensitive to Mirai about her father. Shikadai had looked like he had just been assigned a really arduous task for a moment before he swung round and punched the other boy in the jaw, knocking the pale blond boy to the ground. Inojin had looked utterly stunned as he stared up at Shikadai while the dark haired boy had coldly told him not to show his face until he had apologised seriously to Mirai. Boruto had assumed that Shikadai had a bit of a thing for the older girl because they had always been very close growing up, but apparently he had been seeing it all wrong, because now, a year later Shikadai and Inojin were together. Naturally. Of course. How could he not see it? But the logic behind it failed to reach Boruto, and hurt his head to try and work out.  
  
As he reached Shikadai he clapped an arm around the other boy’s shoulders and grinned broadly, “Hello my friend!”  
  
Shikadai grabbed him by the face  with one hand and gently, but firmly, pushed Boruto off of him. “What do you want you damn Cheshire cat, you never greet me like that unless you want something,”

  
Boruto’s smile faded slightly. Shikadai was probably the best person he should talk to, after all it was him whom Himawari had been quoting the day before.

  
He scuffed a shoe against the floor unused to asking for favours, and said with a bit more gravity than his usual upbeat nature allowed, “I…wanted to talk to you about some things.”  
  
Shikadai eyed him in surprise and said slowly, “You don’t want to talk to Sarada? You two are pretty close.”  
  
Boruto shook his head vigorously, “No, it would be seriously bad if she even heard what I wanted to talk about.”  
  
Shikadai’s eyes narrowed slightly, it was as though Boruto could see his brain working behind his eyes. After a pause he asked, “Have you been talking to Himawari by any chance?”  
Boruto ruffled the back of his hair, “She might have been the root of the problem.”

  
“Damn that girl.”

  
“I couldn’t agree more” Boruto said vehemently.

  
“Fine, lets talk Uzumaki.” Shikadai said with resignation. He was a pretty decent guy in Boruto’s opinion. However he was extremely demotivated to do things, which made it even more annoying to Boruto when the other boy managed to so easily outclass him during school.

  
Boruto’s stomach rumbled suddenly, and Shikadai looked at him as if he had just turned into a large sea cucumber. 

 

He laughed sheepishly, and pointed at his mouth, “Buy me lunch?”

  
“No way, buy your own,” Shikadai said sharply and started to head away down the street.

  
Boruto hopped to catch up with him, “Aw, come on Shika-chan,”

  
Shikadai looked scandalised, “-chan? What-?”

  
“If you treat me, I promise I wont tell your boyfr-Mmpfh!” Shikadai Nara clapped a hand over Boruto’s mouth so swiftly the young Uzumaki could feel his lips stinging from the impact.

  
Shikadai glanced around hastily to check if anyone had noticed what Boruto had been saying, then glared at Boruto and muttered, “If you promise not to say a thing about THAT subject again, I will buy you food, you loud-mouthed bullfrog.”  
  
~~~  
  
Sasuke lay on the roof of Ichiraku Ramen staring into the sky. He hated to admit it, but he was bored out of his mind without having something to do. Teaching Naruto’s brat was a welcome distraction from the mundane life in the village, as well as a welcome change from the extensive reconnaissance missions he had been on, and still occasionally had to go on. Boruto’s behaviour that morning had really pissed him off, however. The brat asked for his help then had the nerve to have his attention elsewhere?

  
He sighed, dark eyes closing. Actually if he was honest he was surprised the brat had stuck with it this long. Just when he had thought he was done teaching Boruto after the chuunin exams, the boy had pitched up asking him to keep training him until he was good enough to defeat his father.   
  
Naruto had rolled his eyes when Sasuke told him of his sons request, but had waved a hand and told Sasuke that he could do whatever he saw fit. And so their training had continued.

Personally, Sasuke thought that Boruto was already as powerful as most jounin in the village, he just needed to be sent on a mission to test his metal. That however would be up to the Hokage.  
  
Naruto…it would seem he spent the majority of his life serving one Uzumaki or another.

  
Boruto was what, 17 now? About the age that he and Naruto had been when they had been pulled into the last war. If there was one thing he truly regretted about that time it was how long he had stayed away, how much he had missed while chasing the wrong things, and only realising too late what, and who was truly important to him.

 

He was back now, but it was painful sometimes to watch them all moving forward in their family lives, happy and together. And here he was drifting, and not doing a hell of a lot of living. Even his daughter had largely grown up without him and he felt it was difficult to connect with her sometimes. Although she was grateful he was back for longer periods of time, he was sure she was still somewhat resentful of the fact that he had not been around. Even now, he really spent most of the time he was back training Boruto. It was important, it was true, training the hokage’s son - but he also knew he had been using the training sessions as an escape.   
  
On missions he had no time for himself really, he had to bring results back to Naruto, and when he was back in town and around Sarada and Sakura, there was always a sense of pressure and expectation that he did not want to deal with. But training Boruto was surprisingly easy.  All that the boy wanted was to learn everything he possibly could from Sasuke. Well, he had seemed to want that… Perhaps he was tiring of it. Or maybe he was over reacting because he had become rather attached to the island of calm the training sessions created in his days. He had been waiting for Boruto to start acting like every other moody brat his age and had been surprised when it hadn’t happened. Perhaps he was just a late bloomer…  
  
“Ramen? Again Uzumaki? Weren’t you here with Mitsuki two days ago?” a voice drifted up from the street outside the shop below.  
  
“Cut me some slack, its cheap, and I like it, why are you complaining?”  
  
Speak of the devil, Boruto was heading to the shop below him, along with one of his friends - Nara’s kid if the lazy drawl was anything to go by.  
  
Sasuke couldn’t resist rolling his eyes even with them closed. Did all Uzumakis have the genetic coding that made them ramen addicts?  
  
“Ah Boruto! The usual I assume?  And for you Shikadai-kun?” Ayame, the shop owner asked brightly.  
  
“Nothing for me, but I’ll cover Boruto.”  
  
She must have moved away to get their order because a short while later she was back and a soft thud of a bowl being set down was followed by a bright, “There you are, enjoy.”  
  
“This is your regular? Uzumaki, are you a bottomless pit?”  
  
“I’ll have you know, Mitsuki finishes this in about half the time it takes me,” Boruto replied, his voice was slightly muffled and Sasuke grimaced, fairly sure that the boy was speaking with his mouth full. Did he have no manners? What was Hinata doing with her time, pruning flowers instead of teaching her children manners?  
  
There was a lengthy pause before Shikadai spoke again, “Are you just going to stuff your face, or are you going to tell me what’s bothering you.”  
  
Sasuke’s alertness picked up. He shouldn’t eavesdrop when it wasn’t for reconnaissance missions but when his student was acting strange… well; he reasoned, he should know what the reason was. Served the brat right for being so tight lipped.

  
“Mmm…” Boruto finished chewing before speaking, “I had this ah… really awkward dream about someone last night, and I don’t exactly know how to face them, its – well my heads not where it should be…I don’t really know what to do about it, or how to act around them.”  
  
Really? That was it puberty had finally decided to hit the kid and that was it? How mundane…  
  
There was a long pause again, before Shikadai said bluntly, “You didn’t dream about me did you?”  
  
Boruto choked on a mouthful, coughing awkwardly, “No!”   
  
The other boy sighed in relief, “Well… do you actually like this person?”  
  
“Yes – well, no, not like _that_.” Boruto replied.  
  
Teenage concerns… had he ever even had those himself?  
  
_“_ Then why should it matter if your pent up your brain starts doing crazy things?” Shikadai said simply   his approach tot the whole thing as logical as always. “It isn’t as though it means anything.”  
  
“I suppose…” the boy trailed off and slight slurp indicated he had resumed eating. At length Boruto asked casually, “Ne, Shikadai… do you really think Sasuke’s gay?”  
  
Sasuke’s eyes snapped open. _Shit._   
  
“Oi baka, keep it down,” Shikadai hissed, “if Sarada hears she’ll beat the crap out of you…Himawari told you that too? Do you guys share _everything_ with each other?”  
  
Sasuke sat upright sharply. Damn it these brats, how the heck did they find out? He hadn’t even looked at anyone in years. How did they know, or was it pure speculation? He knew Sakura and Naruto were the only ones that he had ever told and they had kept it quiet for years.   
  
“Trust me, I wish she would share less,” Boruto muttered darkly.  
  
Sasuke sat there on the roof and stared down at the strangers passing by in the street below. He wanted to get out of there as fast as humanly possible, but at the same time a sort of horrified fascination kept him there listening to these boys discussing what he had thought was his best kept secret.  
  
“Why suddenly…” Shikamaru’s son started to say, then trailed off.   
Sasuke had a bad feeling about what was coming next but strained his ears to catch what he whispered next, “Oi oi, Boruto, are you telling me the person you had a dream about was…”  
  
There wasn’t an audible reply but after a long pause Shikadai let out a long breath, “Well damn… that _is_ awkward.”  
  
Sasuke froze where he sat. Was he hearing right? Him? The kid had been dreaming about him? It took him a second to remember to breathe.   
Boruto was just a teenage boy, he told himself. No wonder he had been off his game that morning.

 

 Surely it was bound to happen when he was the only person the boy spent extensive amounts of time around each day. If he thought about it, really the boy ought to be spending more time around kids his age. Training was one thing, but the hours on end… perhaps they were to all consuming.  
  
Abruptly he stood up. He didn’t need to be hearing anymore of this teenage angst, it was silly and none of his business really.   
  
He took a deep breath and slowly let it out, running a hand over his face.  
  
 Maybe it was time for him to head out again. He was getting to comfortable here. With that thought in mind he turned and jumped onto the roof of the neighbouring building.

 

He would have a word with their fearless leader and see if there was anything for him to do, somewhere far away from the village for a little while… maybe longer.  



	3. Just what he wanted (-_-#)

  
“Was it really necessary to keep me waiting that long?” Sasuke asked darkly as the door swung shut behind him. He had been kept out of the hokage’s office for a good half hour before an aide had come running to let him know it was alright for him to go in.  
  
Naruto glanced up at him from his desk. Papers cluttered the hokage’s desk and a good portion of the floor around it. Among the paper towers were at least three half finished mugs of various beverages, and the only thing with a neat space around it was a photograph of his family that stood on the left hand side of the desk. Naruto gestured broadly to the mess that surrounded him, the white sleeve of his Hokage cloak swished through the air. “Shikamaru wont let me out of here till I’m through at least half of this, and people keep coming to interrupt me. At this rate I am not going home for at least three days.” He groaned and collapsed forward on his desk dramatically.  
Sasuke darted forward to stabilize some of the papers as they wobbled precariously. “Well I’m sure you slacked off sometime and brought it on yourself.”  
  
“Hah?” Naruto sat up with a jerk, “I work my ass off for this village everyday. Unlike you, who has just been playing teacher with my son for the last four months.”   
  
Sasuke glared at Naruto and said tersely, “I actually came here to see if you have a real job for me. And if you would think about it, you’ll recall that I told you he was ready for jounin initiation months ago. As usual I am _not_ the one that has been dragging his heels.”  
  
Naruto scowled, “Actually,” He turned and yanked open one of his desk drawers. Sasuke grabbed for two more towers of paper to steady them as the desk rattled, “I have a mission that I need you for,” he pulled out a slightly bent piece of paper and tried to flatten it on the desk. As Naruto shut the drawer Sasuke rolled his eyes and stepped back, not even bothering to try grab the papers on the opposite side of the desk and they avalanched to the ground.  
“Ah damn it!” Naruto leapt to his feet but just sighed and stared forlornly as the last pages settled to the ground, “This happens at least twice a day…”  
  
“Maybe it would help if you weren’t such a slob?” Sasuke suggested blandly. He didn’t envy Shikamaru having to deal with Naruto’s disorganisation every day.  
  
“Oi I’m the Hokage you can’t speak to me like that!” His blue eyes flashed.  
  
A twinge of amusement went through Sasuke. He had forgotten how much fun it was to rile Naruto up.  
  
Sasuke raised a dark eyebrow, unperturbed, “Can’t I?”   
  
Naruto huffed with annoyance and he opened his mouth to reply but, at that moment, the door to his office swung open.  
  
“Dad, I got your summons what-” Sasuke turned to see Boruto standing in the doorway. The boy’s eyes took in the mess on the floor then flicked between his father and Sasuke.  
  
Sasuke might have been imagining it but he thought the boy’s cheeks reddened slightly as their eyes met, and he looked back at his father a little more quickly.  
  
“Are you two fighting?” the boy asked.  
  
“No,” they replied in unison.  
  
Boruto blinked. “Okay… So why am I here?”  
  
“A valid question,” Sasuke added glancing at the boys father. Was this why he had been kept waiting?  
  
Naruto grinned, “Come in and shut the door I have a mission for the two of you.” He picked up the page whose retrieval had ended in the cascade of a paper tower.  
  
Sasuke’s heart sank. A mission for the two of them? He had been hoping to get away from people, especially this boy who had figured out one of his secrets, not spend time alone with the brat. He glanced at Boruto. The boy’s eyes had lit up and he obeyed his father eagerly stepping round the fallen pages with a nimbleness that was definitely not inherited from Naruto.  
He couldn’t help the slight smile that touched his lips. The boy’s eagerness to be busy had always been one of his best characteristics.  
  
Boruto reached for the paper, “Dad is this mission going to be-”  
  
Naruto held the paper out of his sons reach, a feat that he could only just manage these days, since Boruto was only a few inches shy of his height, and pushed his overeager son back with a hand on his chest, “You’ll be assessed for Jounin candidacy based on this mission, yes.”  
  
Boruto backed up and stood next to Sasuke, practically vibrating with eagerness.  
  
Naruto smiled warmly at his son. Sasuke swallowed inaudibly and glanced away.

Faces like that - how much had he missed during all his time away from the village? And yet his natural response was to leave again whenever he felt he was on the outside of these close interactions. Naruto had really stepped into the role of father and leader well. He wondered exactly when he had become the socially inept one in their team. He almost scoffed at his own thoughts. Probably around the time he chose Orochimaru and revenge against a brother who didn’t deserve it, over his village and friends.  
  
He glanced back as Naruto spoke again. The blond haired man’s tone changed, more serious and business like, a tone Sasuke was more comfortable dealing with.  
  
“In a town close to the border of Amegakure there have been a number of amnesia cases reported, people being seen where they don’t remember being. It might not have been out of the ordinary if most of the people affected hadn’t been too young for Alzheimer’s. Not to mention a handful of the sufferers have since vanished. Kidnapping was suspected at first but there has been no further word on them. I need you two to leave and investigate as soon as you can, and if possible, retrieve the missing people, its fairly time sensitive. The Village sent word that his son who is just a bit older than Boruto, was seen somewhere he didn’t remember being and is incredibly concerned that he will go missing as well. I would like you to both leave this evening if possible.” Naruto looked up at them, “Any questions?”  
  
Sasuke contemplated the task. It didn’t sound incredibly difficult apart from perhaps the speed and need for retrieval from an unknown enemy. He glanced up at Naruto “Age group of the victims?”   
  
“It is fairly broad. Anywhere between 18-43, all men. The villagers suspect five abductions in total so far. They weren’t alarmed when the first two disappeared because they were outsiders who had only been at the village a short while, and assumed they had just left. However since then three of their own have gone missing after these odd amnesia symptoms, and now, as I said the village head’s son seems to be effected.”  
  
Sasuke nodded and glanced at Boruto, “We should go in as average citizens then, as outsiders we might be able to draw the attention of whomever or whatever is behind this.”  
  
Naruto nodded briefly and looked at Boruto. The boy looked surprised to have his opinion asked but hastily nodded in agreement.  
  
“Good.” Sasuke let out a long breath. It felt good to be doing something meaningful. Not that teaching Boruto hadn’t been, just, this was a task that he knew would have a finite end. “We will meat at the gate in two hours, bring essentials only and try to dress… inconspicuously.”   
  
He gave the boy a swift once over, he had his doubts about anyone from Naruto’s bloodline having the ability to not stand out. Boruto nodded, his edginess around Sasuke forgotten at the prospect of finally being sent on a special mission.  
Boruto stood there uncertainly.   
Sasuke eyed him as the boy fidgeted.  
  
“Well are you going to get to it?”  
  
“Ah yes!” Boruto sprang into action and dashed from the room.  
Sasuke watched him go wondering just what was in store for him.

  
“Sasuke,” Naruto said seriously.  
  
He glanced at his old team mate, meeting an intense blue stare, “Make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”  
  
Sasuke let out a small huff of amusement, “He has more sense than you did at that age.”   
  
“That’s not saying much,” Naruto muttered and moved to start collecting the papers strewn across the floor.  
  
Sasuke blinked and cocked his head with a frown, “Naruto… is there something more I should know about this mission?”  
  
He watched the hokage shake his head, “Not really its just… Amegakure hasn’t given us any trouble for quite some time but… I have a bad feeling about this mission somehow. Boruto is still eager to out do me, don’t let him get himself killed.”   
  
Sasuke didn’t reply only watched Naruto awkwardly moving about. Then he turned and headed toward the door. As if he would let anything happen to his student.  
  
~~~  
  
Sasuke did a double take from where he stood waiting by the gates as Boruto approached.  
He stared at Boruto. He had told the boy to dress inconspicuously but - was he wearing… He would know that hideous garment a mile away. Was it supposed to be a joke?  
  
“Oi idiot, what are you wearing?” he snapped as the boy came within hailing distance.  
  
“Huh?” Boruto looked down at himself and lifted the two tone poncho slightly, “This? Whats wrong with it? Himawari gave it to me to help me look more like a commoner.”  
  
Sasuke’s eyes narrowed, could it be a coincidence that Boruto would be wearing a duplicate of his ugly poncho from years ago? Or could it actually be, that particular old poncho had somehow wound up in the Uzumaki household? He couldn’t imagine that the girl really had such bad taste. Although, come to think of it, she was descended from Naruto who had worn hideous orange and blue clothing throughout his childhood, so it was entirely possible .  
  
“She was definitely making fun of you…” he muttered.   
  
“What?”  
  
Sasuke shook his head, “Nothing - its hideous take it off.”  
  
Boruto scowled, and folded his arms across his chest defensively, “I wont - it makes me look like a commoner.”  


Sasuke glared at him, “It makes you look like you are homeless. Everyone you meet will avoid you. Trust me, I want to avoid you.”   
  
Boruto glared at him and shouldered his pack, “I’m wearing it, I’m not here for fashion advice. I’m here to do this mission and come home.”  
  
Sasuke rolled his eyes at the boy’s insistence. For all that the boy had been complaining about his sister earlier, he clearly valued her opinion, however misguided it might be.   
  
“Shall we go?” Boruto said stiffly.  
  
Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned away walking down the path away from the village. A minute later hurried footsteps indicated the boy was following after him. Off on a mission for a couple of weeks alone with a hormonal teenager who was the very one he had been hoping to escape from. How wonderful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be longer but I split it in half because I'm taking too long with the second half. Hope you are enjoying it tho, thanks for reading! (^w^)


	4. Little Changes

  
  
They covered a good bit of ground before the light started to fade. Sasuke had set a gruelling pace, and his tactic had kept Boruto breathless enough that the boy barely spoke.  The dark haired man led the way slightly off course till they drew up along side a river. The water ran bright and lively along side them, glinting in the low sun as they followed the rivers edge till they reached a small clearing.   
  
Sasuke stopped and dropped his pack to the ground in the centre of the clearing.  
“We’ll make camp here for tonight. I’ll start a fire, you go catch some fish for supper.”   
  
“Uh…With what?”  
  
Sasuke gave the blond haired boy a dead stare, then moved to the edge of the clearing, gathering dry twigs as he went, “Don’t ask stupid questions, you are a ninja, figure it out.”

  
There was a long pause following his comment, and Sasuke amassed a good bundle of dry twigs and branches, clearing other debris out of the area and ringing it with stones. As he stood and dusted off his hands, Boruto suddenly spoke up, sounding slightly surly.  
  
“Hold this.”

  
He glanced at the boy, and on reflex flung up a hand in time to catch the ugly poncho as it was thrown his way. Boruto turned his back, pulled his shirt off over his head, and tossed it at Sasuke too.  
  
“What are you-” Sasuke started, vague panic fluttered through his stomach as Boruto started removing his pants, then it clicked, “You’re going into the water to catch them?”  
  
Boruto shrugged, “I’m a ninja right? I should be quick enough.” He tossed his pants at Sasuke.  
  
Sasuke deftly caught them and stood watching as his pupil waded into the water in his boxers, hissing at the cold. Expression blank, his dark eyes followed each movement. Boruto seemed so childish in his large tracksuit-like jacket and pants that Sasuke had not really considered that he was anything but one.

 

However it had been the same with Naruto, it was only a bit of a change of outfit that let one realise the man that the boy had become. He had been teaching Boruto for years now. It was easy not to notice change in people you were around all the time. Not that Boruto was a man yet, but he was filling out nicely. Broad shoulders and muscled back bore the evidence of his years of training with Sasuke that had not been shown in his performance in recent lessons. Back muscles tensed and rippled as Boruto lashed out to try and snatch a fish from the water. The splash jolted Sasuke from his reverie.   
  
“What a skilled ninja you are,” he sniped as the boy came up wet and empty handed.  
  
“You are welcome to do it yourself.” Boruto snapped back in annoyance.  
  
“No, you do it. Call it initiation.”   
  
“Initiation into what?!”  
  
What indeed? He looked down at the garments in is hands, not because the sight of water clinging to that tan skin was in any way…  
His fist tightened around the clothes and his eyes widened slightly. Where the hell was his mind going? This was his best friend’s son for crying out loud.  
No, he glanced back at the boy as he made another dive for a fish – perhaps it was _because_ he was Naruto’s son. They looked so similar…  
  
He tossed the shirt and pants down on top of the boy’s pack that he had dropped, and was about to put the poncho on top when he realised what he held.  
The hideous garment was in his grasp.  
He smirked.

  
“Oh no!” he said in a loud bland voice, and as soon as he saw Boruto turn toward him added, “my hand slipped.”   
He tossed the poncho up into the air, placed two fingers to his lips, drew Chakra - and blew. Fire streamed out in a cloud from his fingers to engulf the poncho, disintegrating it within seconds.  
  
“What the hell Sensei!?” Boruto cried, outraged.  
  
Sasuke just shrugged and went back to his initial job – starting the fire – breathing a much smaller amount of flame this time to get their campfire going.

 

“Stop calling me sensei, we are on a mission brat.” Was all he replied, “Act like a normal human being.”

 

A normal human being… yes because if they were just equals travelling together for the sake of the mission, it would excuse why he hadn’t reprimanded Boruto for his attitude earlier.  
He poked at the fire, adding a few more small twigs, equals huh…  
  
 * * *  
  
“Really? You don’t think this was overkill? I thought I told you to act like a normal human being?”  
  
Boruto stood beside the fire with a good twelve or so fish that barely fit clutched by the tails in his hands, it had been growing dark before he finally lost patience and used and electric chakra technique to zap all the fish in the vicinity and make them float to the surface. It was unfortunately quite a bit more than the two of them could eat.

Boruto scowled in annoyance, he was tired, cold and still damp from the river, though he had switched his boxers out for his pants, he had yet to dry off properly.  
  
“You told me to act like a Ninja before that, to get us food though.”  
  
“Don’t put words in my mouth. I said you _are_ a ninja. How you interpret that is your choice.” Sasuke said blandly, not even looking at him.  
  
Boruto gritted his teeth and placed the fish down beside the fire. Sasuke had been nothing but critical of him all day long. Not to mention he had destroyed the poncho his sister gave him. Yes it wasn’t the most pleasant garment on the eyes, but at least it had been warm and it had smelled nice.  
   
In surly silence he picked up the thin branches Sasuke had cleaned for the fish and skewered two then stabbed the other ends into the ground beside the fire so that the branches were angled over the flames. He sighed and grabbed his bedroll, laying it out beside the fire, then perched on the edge near the fire. He was still damp and didn’t fancy sleeping in a wet bedroll. He leaned his head toward the heat and fluffed his damp hair, trying to encourage it to dry faster.  
  
“Do you think it’s hygienic for your wet underwear to be drying over the fire while our food is cooking?”   
Annoyance coursed through Boruto and he stood abruptly, he had deliberately hung them off a branch on the opposite side of the fire.  
  
“Whatever you say oh mighty and powerful ANBU master,” he snapped, then grabbed his boxers off the branch by the fire and stormed over to the edge of the clearing to hang them from the branch of a tree.  
  
~~~  
  
Boruto returned and huffed in annoyance as he sat down beside Sasuke again. Sasuke opened his mouth to chastise the boy for his behaviour, then stopped as he glanced over at the boy.  He had been avoiding looking at him because the boy had yet to put on a shirt again, and he was afraid he would stare.   
  
The firelight revealed a slight flush on the boy’s cheeks, probably because of the comment about his underwear. Both of them were probably too aware of the fact that meant he wasn’t actually wearing any. The corners of his mouth were downturned and he looked a little miserable however, and that had not been Sasuke’s intention at all. Maybe he had been too harsh. He glanced at the pile of fish. The boy was trying; he just lacked common sense, a lot like his father.  
  
Sasuke sighed, and said a bit more gently, “Well maybe we can just let some of it dry out by the fire overnight and keep it for provisions,”  
  
Boruto looked up seeming surprised that he hadn’t been told off for his rude behaviour, and nodded.  
He got up on his own and began to lay out the fish on some of the larger rocks near by the fire.  
He really did try hard. That much could be said for the boy. If anything, he was a hard worker when he had something he wanted to achieve. He had kept at trying to catch fish with his bare hands for twice as long as Sasuke would have had the patience for himself.  
When Boruto finished and returned to his spot beside Sasuke, he noticed the boy rubbing his forearms against the chill of the oncoming night.  
  
Sasuke paused, watching him for a second, then turned to his pack and rummaged through it. He pulled out a second dark green cloak like the one he wore and held it out to Boruto.   
  
The boy looked at him in surprise, “This is..?”  
  
“A spare I carry, in case I come across a homeless guy who needs it.”  
  
The boy glared at him but there was no malice behind those blue eyes, which looked almost the colour of the night sky in the firelight. He grudgingly reached out a hand and accepted the cloak.  Boruto wrapped it round his shoulders. His hair was drying into a mess of soft blond waves with how the boy had barely touched it since getting out of the water.  
  
When the fish was ready they ate in silence and left the rest to dry out on the rocks beside the smouldering fire overnight. Boruto donned his shirt again and climbed into this bedroll, pulling Sasuke’s cloak over himself.  
Sasuke watched the boy settle before lying down himself. They were still near enough to Konoha that they wouldn’t need to keep watch.  
  
A Gruff  “G’nite” reached his ears and he allowed himself a small smile but didn’t reply.  
  
He couldn’t have known that as the boy was drifting off Boruto’s last thought before sleep took him was, “At least this cloak also smells nice.”  
  
~  
  
It was dark. Sasuke wasn’t sure what had woken him until he heard a soft splash. In an instant he was on his feet, but he didn’t feel threatened. His eyes were drawn to a cloaked figure standing silhouetted against the moonlight shining off the river. The fire had burnt low and barely gave off a glow.  
Sasuke moved forward realising he recognized the silhouette.  
  
“Naruto?” he muttered, but knew that he was wrong as the name passed his lips.  As he drew closer he noticed the cloak was his, and the blond hair formed soft waves when it dried from the river earlier.  
  
“Boruto,” he said calmly as he drew close and the figure turned. The boy’s eyes shone bright and clear blue in the moonlight and he smiled the way he hadn’t seen the boy smile at him in a while.   
He swallowed.  
  
“What are you doing?” he asked.  
  
“Catching fish.”  Boruto replied, glancing back at the water.  
  
“We’ve got enough, come back to bed.” Sasuke replied and held a hand out to the boy. Sasuke suddenly wasn’t sure if the boy would take it, after the way he had been irritable all day.  
  
Sure enough, Boruto ignored the hand. Instead he walked straight up to Sasuke and wrapped his arms round his waist, burying his face in Sasuke’s shoulder.  
Sasuke froze. Not sure where to put the hand he had been holding out, he let it fall to the boys waist.  
  
Hot breath against his collar bone as Boruto murmured, “I’m hungry.”  
  
Sasuke’s breath caught in his throat as he realised the boy wasn’t wearing a shirt, funny, hadn’t he put it on before going to bed?  
  
He cleared his throat, “Well, there’s more fish-”  
  
Boruto pulled back and stared at him with eyes darkened by the tree mottled moonlight and a hint of something else. Boruto was only a couple of inches shorter than him these days, so the distance wasn’t huge.   
“Not that sort of hungry, Sensei.”  The boy breathed.  
  
“I told you not to call me-” Sasuke started, but suddenly there were hands in his hair and hot breath against his lips as the boy yanked him down the short distance between their faces.  
  
“ _Sasuke._ ” The boy purred in a voice unlike anything Sasuke had heard from his lips before.  
  
And then those lips were on his, warm, damp and insistent. He groaned low in his throat as fingers tightened in his hair and he kissed back. He let his arms slide under the cloak, pressing his fingers against the firm muscles of Boruto’s back. His hands slid down and gripped the boy’s waist, pulling him impossibly closer, how long had it been since he held someone like this?

  
Boruto’s hands slid down from Sasuke’s hair to his chest, teeth nipped his bottom lip and he gasped slightly before the hands on his chest pushed him back slightly.  
  
Blue eyes stared into his dark ones, “I knew you were gay,”  
  
Uncertainty closed his throat and he tried to keep his expression blank as he asked tightly, “And?”  
  
A feral looking smile passed over the boy’s face as pressure from the hands on Sasuke’s chest re-exerted itself and backed him up till he was at the foot of his bedroll.   


For a second it seemed like those lines on the boy’s cheeks flickered from two to three and the smile on the man before him softened, “I don’t care.”

  
Sasuke was caught off guard when Boruto pushed hard against his chest and he tripped over the end of the bedroll, falling backward-  
  
\- and hit the bedroll sitting up with a gasp.

  
Sasuke blinked furiously, sleep fogging his mind for a second. The fire cracked and a log shifted, castling a cloud of sparks into the air. Another shift had probably woken him.   
  
He glanced around the clearing. Boruto was in his own bedroll, breathing deep and slow, fast asleep. There were no other disturbances.  
  
Shit. That dream was – his chest tightened. Completely inappropriate? Absolutely, this sort of thing, he had known this would be a bad idea. He had wanted a mission alone to clear his head. Not something to cloud it further. Curse Naruto and his stellar bad timing. Angry with himself and Naruto equally, he awkwardly got up and padded to the river’s edge.

  
He reached into the clear dark water and splashed it over his face, then touched a cold damp hand to the back of his neck to try to cool his burning skin. It was colder than he expected and he shivered as a drop ran down his spine. And Boruto had spent hours in this water.

 

He was suddenly glad he had given the boy his cloak, otherwise he could easily have caught a cold. And yet the boy hadn’t complained about the task once. If he thought about it, the sulking had been more in reaction to his own attitude toward the boy. Perhaps he really should cut the boy some slack.  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *throws glitter* Sasuke's awakening begins .:::\\(^w^)/:::.
> 
> Thanks for reading~


	5. The Village on the Boarder

  
  
“Keep your head down and hands to yourself,” Sasuke said sharply, and the back of Boruto’s hand stung from where Sasuke had smacked it away from the merchandise.  
  
They had entered the market street of the boarder town. It was late afternoon and most of the shops were closing up. Boruto opened his mouth to object to Sasuke’s treatment, but closed it just as quickly. With his eyes focused ahead, he noticed the suspicious glances the two of them were drawing from the locals as they made their way down the street.  
  
In a town where your friend or family member might disappear at random any day, it was only natural that they would be suspicious of outsiders. He didn’t blame them in the slightest. He could imagine their thoughts. _Were these the ones who took them? Did they finally come to demand a ransom?_  
  
It was an odd choice for him to be picked to assist Sasuke on this sort of mission. He glanced at the other man. Sasuke’s posture was perfectly relaxed, his face, although not giving anything of his thoughts away, was peaceful and non-threatening, despite having told him off only a moment ago. He felt a tingle of admiration, how could Sasuke so easily project an aura of calm to put the villagers at ease. By comparison, Boruto felt he was probably radiating tension and excitement – part of the reason he thought he might have been a bad choice of partner for this mission.  
  
He dropped his shoulders and tried to look more casual to match Sasuke’s demeanour.  
  
Not to be mistaken – he was very glad his father had finally put him on a mission of some importance, that he could try and prove himself good enough for Jounin standing – but in a situation like this, with villagers on edge, would it not have been a better idea to pair a woman with Sasuke? If his father had done that, they could have passed as being a couple travelling together – a far less threatening cover than two grown men randomly strolling into town. Although _technically,_ if they were talking about couples with Sasuke, he would be a more realistic match wouldn’t he? Not that most people would assume that at a glance.  
  
He tried to sneak a look at Sasuke again, but the dark haired man caught his gaze.  
  
“What are you looking at, brat?” he said without the slightest bite, and a second later a warm hand landed on his head and fluffed his hair. Boruto’s heart skipped, it was something Sasuke hadn’t done to him since their early days training together. How was it that Sasuke could just flip the switch to be such a nice, tolerable guy when he’d been particularly cranky right up until they had walked through the gates? He supposed that years of playing his part as an ANBU spy would demand this sort of versatility of character. Still, it was impressive.  
  
He let out a short huff of air and sidled closer to Sasuke for a moment to ask softly, “Sen-uh,” he caught himself on sensei, “Sasuke-san, why am _I_ here?”  
  
He felt Sasuke glance at him and seemed to understand that he had meant, _why am_ I _on this mission?_ “Hnn, you’ll understand soon enough, don’t concern yourself.”  
  
And there it was, a good old, annoyingly unhelpful answer from Sasuke.  
  
“Here, hang on,” Boruto stopped as Sasuke doubled back a couple of stalls to where a food stall where a young woman selling skewers of dango was just starting to pack up. She eyed him suspiciously at first, but he saw Sasuke mutter a few words that made her smile in amusement and glance up the road at him. Boruto glanced away. Sasuke’s ability to charm other people – wasn’t he supposed to be gay? What’s up with charming women?  
  
A moment later two sticks of multi-coloured dango were dangled in front of his face. He grabbed them automatically, “Thank-mff-” Sasuke fluffed his hair again “what-”  
  
“Just eat and don’t make such a sour expression.” Sasuke replied, he dragged one of the balls off of the dango skewer he held in his own hand, and let out a small groan of appreciation, “Finally something other than fish.”  
The older man smirked as a sheepish expression stole across Boruto’s face.  
  
“The shopkeeper told me where to find the village chief’s home,” Sasuke said as they continued down the road, “This way.”  
  
They headed left off the market street past more suburban houses. Boruto veritably inhaled the dango, it _was_ a delightful change from the fish they had been eating for the last couple of days.  
He heard Sasuke sigh, sounding almost disappointed as he finished his as well.  
Boruto reached to take the empty skewer from him and Sasuke automatically dodged out of his grasp, then paused awkwardly.

  
Boruto sniggered. They were so used to dodging each other during practise that it was pretty much an instant reaction to avoid unexpected motions, and he had never been above trying to catch Sasuke off guard. Sasuke narrowed dark eyes at him and swiftly jabbed him in the ribs with the skewer, “No respect at all for your elders, brat.”

  
Boruto made a grab for the skewer and was almost as surprised as Sasuke when he managed to snatch it from the older man. With a smug look cast in Sasuke’s direction, he tossed the sticks into a bin outside one of the houses as they passed by.  
  
The Chief’s home, when they arrived, was a small traditional Japanese building built of wood and paper screens. The garden was a little unkempt as they moved through it up to the front door. Sasuke knocked, then stepped back beside Boruto to wait. Boruto tried not to vibrate nervous energy and caught himself rocking back and forth on his heels just before the door slid open.  
  
An older woman with brown hair answered, her small eyes narrowing in suspicion as she eyed Sasuke, then surprisingly, her face brightened as her eyes lit on Boruto, “Oh! You must be Boru-chan! Takeshi-sama has been expecting you.”

  
He nodded, not sure what his expression should be after being called ‘chan’ at his age.

  
She looked back as Sasuke, giving him a thorough once over. Boruto was pleased to finally see Sasuke slightly uncomfortably shift from foot to foot.  
  
“And this is-?”  
  
“Sasuke-sen- er, Sasuke-san.” Boruto replied.  
  
“Your… body guard?” she asked.  
  
Boruto wasn’t sure what the story was so he went for a weak smile and a shrug.  
“Well,” She went on, “I suppose you had best come along, Takeshi-sama is just taking evening tea.”  
  
The two men followed her in and Boruto noticed Sasuke let him follow first, before closing the door behind them. It was only when Sasuke moved to toe off his shoes that Boruto remembered, and quickly removed his own before following the dark haired woman.  
  
They were led down a hallway to a room with highly decorated painted screens covered in black and pink cherry blossoms. The woman drew the door open, “My apologies for interrupting Takeshi-sama, it would appear young Boru has arrived.”  
  
Boruto stepped up beside her into the room and his eyes widened slightly as they landed on the village chief. The man sat on a cushion before a low table. He was a man a good ten years older than his father, but it was the long blond hair and pale blue eyes very like his own that most surprised him.  
  
A boy who appeared a little older than him with similar hair but squarer of jaw sat opposite Takeshi-sama, though his eyes were almost colourless, the blue was so pale. The boy beamed and leapt to his feet, “Boru-chan!” there it was again with the ‘chan’.  
Next thing he knew Boruto was locked in a rib crushing hug. He couldn’t have even considered hugging back if he had time, because his arms were pinned to his sides till the other released him.  
  
“Kai, give them a chance to come inside,” the village chief scolded, and the boy backed off sheepishly. He rose and stepped forward to great them, clasping Boruto’s hand in both of his own and greeting him fondly as ‘Boru-kun’ and Sasuke stepped forward second to respectfully shake the man’s hand as well.  
The man’s eyes seemed kind though his face was creased with lines of worry.  
  
After asking the lady who had greeted them to bring more cups for tea, the village chief ushered them to be seated at the low table.  
  
As the door slid closed and Boruto settled onto a cushion, Village Chief Takeshi spoke again, “Uzumaki-san I apologise for the familiar greetings, we decided you would pass as Kai’s cousin whilst here and a less warm greeting might have put my staff on edge.”  
  
Boruto hastily waved off the apology, “Not at all Takeshi-sama, and please do feel free to use Boruto or Boru as you please, Uzumaki-san is my father.” He grimaced slightly at the awkwardness of it. He had strongly disliked it when teachers had called him by his last name during school as well.  
  
The chief inclined his head. For a short while they discussed the logistics of Sasuke and Boruto’s ability to investigate and their living arrangements until they had managed to finish their task. The lady who had greeted them soon returned not only with more cups and tea, but trays of food for dinner for the four of them, and all further discussion of that sort ceased.  
  
Kai was a friendly and inquisitive person and took an immediate shine to Boruto.  
Boru was glad to have someone near his age to chat to after three days on the road with a not very talkative Uchiha. By contrast to Sasuke’s surly nature, Kai almost never stopped smiling and Boruto found he could easily imagine being the boy’s family.  
“Is Konoha very different to our town? I haven’t been able to travel much what with responsibilities here at the village,”  
  
Boruto shrugged, as he stuffed his face with vegetables, a welcome change from the fish they had been finishing off over the last few days, “ I mean it’s quite a bit bigger, we do have the training academy there so it is to be expected I think.”  
  
Kai sighed wistfully, pale blue eyes gazing off thoughtfully, “I always wanted to become a ninja you know.” He laughed ruefully and shook his head, “It never would have worked though, I’m not nearly athletic enough.”  
  
“Mmm- y’look pretty athletic though,” Boruto said with his mouth half full while gesturing with his chopsticks, and instantly earned himself a light smack upside the head from Sasuke, along with a muttered ‘savage’.  
Boruto ignored the comment but swallowed his food before continuing, “I mean you’re pretty muscular and well built.”  
  
“Oh stop it you, you’re making me blush,” Kai said coyly and fluttered pale eyelashes at Boruto, then grinned, “I’m only good for lifting things, ask me to run anywhere or jump over things and I trip over my own feet.”  
  
“It’s quite a sight to behold,” Takeshi-sama agreed, “Ask him to show you his knees a bit later on, they are more bruise than actual knee.”  
  
Kai flushed slightly and muttered something into a napkin that sounded to Boruto like, “..reasons for that.” He instantly launched back into picking Boruto’s brain about Konoha.  
  
He noticed that Sasuke’s genial mask started to slip into irritation as the meal wore on, and Kai barely stopped to draw breath except when Boruto was talking. Boruto didn’t mind, he had always been a sociable sort.

As dinner finished and Boruto noticed Sasuke’s eyes narrow in Kai’s direction, he took the initiative to interrupt him, “Thanks for the meal, and we appreciate your hospitality. I’m kind of tired after all our traveling though, so…”

  
“Ah of course, after travelling all the way here so quickly, you’ll want to rest,” Kai stood and offered a hand up to Boruto, “Sasuke-san will have his own room. May will show him the way, I hope you don’t mind sharing with me though Boru-chan,”

Boruto smiled, “Not at all.”

He said his goodnights to Sasuke and Takeshi-sama, noticing the relieved glance Sasuke send his way. He felt a little pleased with himself for picking up on it, Sasuke had never been much of a fan of noisy people. Kai was harmless but he could tell the older boy would get on Sasuke’s nerves if they were around each other for long periods of time, he’d have to try and keep the village chief’s son busy and out of Sasuke’s hair.

The other boy’s room was large and a little cluttered with plenty of books on a large brown dresser. Boruto helped lay out the futons as Kai grabbed them out of the cupboard. Once they were laid out Boruto started to change into pyjamas, as he was about to pull the sleeping shirt over his head Kai spoke.

“You can definitely tell you’re a ninja,” Boruto turned in time to see Kai give him a once over and smile crookedly. The other boy was in the process of buttoning his own pyjama shirt, though he left the top two open. The thinner fabric made it more apparent that the village Chief’s son was quite a bit bigger than Boruto, his shoulders were broad and, fitness aside, Boruto wouldn’t have been keen to take him on in a fight if he was properly trained.  
“Er, thanks?” he replied, pulling his own pyjama shirt on, and sitting down on one of the futons. Kai folded down onto the other with a surprising amount of grace and sprawled on his side.

  
“Aren’t you supposed to be clumsy?”

Kai raised an eyebrow and his mouth curled in a smile, “ I have my moments.” He propped his head up on one hand, “How is it being the Hokage’s son?”

Boruto’s brows knit slightly, it was a fairly standard question but most people didn’t really want his honest answer to it, “Well, it’s-”

“Tiresome?” Kai finished for him. Boruto looked at him in surprise and the other boy’s pale blue eyes wore a look of understanding. He let out a short laugh, “I know it’s probably not as intense for me but being Takeshi-sama’s son, well being a leader’s son, there are a lot of expectations on you from people who would never normally have a say in your life, am I right?”

Boruto felt a lightness in his chest and grinned, “First time I haven’t had to explain that to someone.”

They were silent for a moment and Boruto glanced out of the window. It was full dark outside, the sky a deep blue sprinkled with stars.  
“You weren’t kidding about wanting to be a ninja?”

“Mmm, but I am the only son, so it was never going to happen.” Kai traced a long finger along the grain of a floorboard.  
Boruto felt a little self conscious, although his village had expectations of him he had never had to give up doing something he really wanted to do.  
“But hey, I do like it here,” Kai perked up, “though I would at least like to travel a bit eventually. Once this business with our people disappearing is solved perhaps.”  
  
“The report said that people remember encountering you places you don’t remember being?” Boruto asked.  
  
Kai nodded, light shoulder length hair spilling forward over his broad shoulders as he did, “I’ll take you to speak to the man who says saw me, tomorrow. These sightings seem to all happen at night too, which is also why it’s good if you are staying in the room with me, cause at least we will know if I’m sleepwalking or something. Although I don’t know how I would have gotten out of the house without someone noticing.”  
  
“Hmm,” Boruto said thoughtfully, it was odd and a little bit creepy to be honest.  
  
A knock at their door distracted him and Kai called, “The door is open.”  
  
The door slid open to reveal Sasuke who had shed his travel cloak, leaving him in a black-sleeved, white shirt and black slacks. The man nodded briefly at Kai then turned dark eyes on Boruto. “Boruto - a word.”  
  
Boruto jumped to his feet and followed Sasuke a few paces out of the room. Sasuke closed the door behind him.  
  
“A test of endurance,” he murmured quietly inclining his head back toward the room where Kai was.  
Boruto smothered a laugh, a bit pleased with himself that he had read Sasuke correctly. “It’s not all that bad really,”  
Sasuke arched a dark brow skeptically, “Tell me that again in three days.”  
  
“You think it’ll take that long?”  
  
“Longer possibly, it’s hard to say until we investigate tomorrow. Which is why-”  
He pulled a small brown bottle out of his pocket. After unscrewing the top and tipping it against his thumb, he reached out out to Boruto. Boruto twitched way automatically but Sasuke made a disapproving sound so he stilled apprehensively. What was …

  
A moment later Sasuke’s thumb stroked gently across his cheek, his hand was warm and firm. As his thumb moved across his cheek again, Boruto caught himself starting to lean into the touch. He blinked as Sasuke’s hand withdrew and looked down at Sasuke’s hands uncertainly.

  
Sasuke’s face was unreadable as he held the bottle out to Boruto, “You can do the other side. It’s cream that you will need to use to cover up your whisker markings. You look to much like your father with them, anyone who lived through the war will recognise you.”  
Boruto’s cheek felt slightly moist where the cream had covered the marks on his face, but he wondered if the slight tingling sensation on his skin was supposed to happen.  
“Put it on whenever you aren’t in the bath, there’s no telling when you might be seen. It should only come off with soap and water – or if you drag your face against a tree or something equally unsavoury.”  
  
Boruto nodded obediently. Sasuke’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully and he seemed like he might say something else but his pale lips closed.  
His large hand rose again, paused mid air, then came down lightly on Boruto’s hair.  
“Get some sleep while you can,” broad strides carried him away down the hall. Boruto glanced after him and as he disappeared, returned to Kai’s room. When he entered the room Kai was sitting up but flopped dramatically back onto his pillow, “Ah Sasuke is so cool! Brooding and mysterious like people say.”  
  
Boruto raised an eyebrow, “ I guess – but who says things like that, it sounds like something my sister would say.”  
  
“Well mostly women say it, yeah, I mean he’s pretty popular.”  
  
“Not that it does them any good.” Boruto muttered climbing into his futon.  
  
“Cause he has a family.” Kai said matter-of-factly.  
  
Boruto didn’t reply, just borrowed down in his covers. That version was easier to understand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Sorry that this was such a long time coming! Sooner for the next one hopefully (XwX')

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings! XD  
> I hope you will forgive the dose of cliches in this chapter, But hopefully future chapters will be more... well, MORE .  
> This ship just sorta struck me and a friend of mine out of nowhere so I felt the need ~  
> Thanks for reading!


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